Undergraduate Science and Maths

Willa Houston: [00:00:04] Welcome to the UTS Science and Mathematics introduction to the study opportunities here at UTS. My name's Associate Professor Willa Houston, and I'm the Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning for the faculty. So today we're going to give you an overview of the opportunities and experiences you would have as a student here at UTS Science. In this session, we're going to introduce you to what it is like to study here at UTS Science, particularly what our learning environments are like, some of the study areas and the career opportunities, and to share with you that you'll be studying at a world-leading university of technology. 100% of the research here at UTS has been rated by the Australian Government as at, or above world standard, especially in science. We're really known for our physical sciences, environmental sciences, chemistry and genetics, and this is the case in many other rankings as well. Just recently in the QS World University Rankings where we've been ranked the ninth leading university in Australia and in the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking, where we're second in all of Australia for our overall contributions to sustainable development. And we're the number one young university in Australia, according to the Times Higher Education. So you can see that you've got the opportunity to study at a really world-leading institution.

Willa Houston: [00:01:21] In addition to those exciting world rankings, what we're really proud of at UTS science is our amazing staff and our amazing learning environments. We have over 4000 students studying right now at UTS Science, and our students rank their overall experience and their interactions with staff and students as above the national average compared to other science and mathematics faculties. The students also ranked the opportunity to develop their skills and our facilities and resources as above the national average for science and mathematics faculties around Australia. So that's just one way that you can see the exciting spaces, but let's take a deeper look now at what those spaces look like. Here's a quick snapshot of just some of the many exciting learning environments that you'll have the opportunity to study and learn in. And the reason why this is so important is UTS Science graduates are really well known for graduating with hands-on skills and all those professional attributes that make them ready to be employed in the workforce across their chosen disciplines. So now I'm going to hand over to my colleague, Associate Professor Cathy Gorrie is going to talk to you some more about some of the exciting, dynamic learning spaces.

Cathy Gorrie: [00:02:29] You might find yourself in first year being taught in one of our super labs. These are large 250 seat labs where multiple classes are taught at the same time, so it's a vibrant and exciting learning environment. As you progress through your course, you might find yourself working in our other super lab, which is called the Hive. This is a PC2 lab, and in this environment you'll be doing more, you can immerse yourself in research-like activities, you'll be working in groups, and you'll have access to some of the most sophisticated instruments and audio-visual systems at UTS. So I'll hand over to Dr Scott Chadwick, who will tell you about some of the other spaces that we've got at UTS.

Scott Chadwick: [00:03:20] Another really unique space that we have here at UTS is our Crime Scene Simulation suites. And in these suites, students have the opportunity to investigate crime scenes just like you would in the real world. So we have clandestine laboratories, ATMs, hit and runs, and more bedroom type crime scenes that you would experience as a forensic scientist in the real world. Another exciting set of spaces are for our chemistry and our physics students, where they will have access to some of the cutting-edge equipment that our researchers use day to day, and you'll have the opportunity to work on some of these exciting piece of kits, whether it's in the analytical chemistry laboratories, working on some scanning electron microscopy to see atoms and nanoparticles, or working in our optics laboratory where you get to play around with lasers and light. I'm going to pass over to my colleague, Dr Megan Murray, so she can speak to you about some of the other exciting things you can do at UTS.

Megan Murray: [00:04:27] It's one thing to study beautiful photos of nature, but another thing to experience it and scientifically measure it. At UTS, we offer extensive field-based training opportunities in many subjects within our environment and marine science programs. This includes a week long training trip to our iconic Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, forest ecology inside Royal National Park, Biodiversity Surveys in World Heritage Blue Mountains area, and wildlife training with all kinds of native species, including possums and gliders in northern New South Wales. All of these images that you can see here are of, or from, our students completing their Bachelor's studies. Our students graduate from UTS, not just with knowledge, but real-world experience that is highly sought after by government and industry organisations.

Willa Houston: [00:05:14] So now you've heard a lot about our spaces and the way that you learn here at UTS, it's time for you to learn a little bit about the kinds of areas that you can study in. At UTS, we have seven strengths areas where there's a range of opportunities in each of those areas for you to learn. We have medical science, forensic science, molecular biotechnology, chemistry, physics, environmental and marine sciences, and mathematical sciences; and so now we're going to talk a little bit more about what it's like to study and the types of courses we offer. Firstly, you'll notice that we have two options for how you might study across many of our areas. We have a number of what we call our name degrees, and we also have a large Bachelor of Science. In our name degrees, as you can see on the left of the slide, these degrees are focused on a particular area of science with a real strength focus on that course. So, for example, in each of these courses, there are majors to choose as well, but by choosing a course like this, you're kind of saying that you know what it is that you want, you want a clear profile in, say, medical science or forensic science or environmental biology, and these other names, of course, as you can see here. However, if you are thinking about more broad career opportunities or in fact, you're not quite certain yet which way your science is going to take you, and you perhaps want a little bit of flexibility or you actually know that you want to specialise in more than one area, then you should consider the Bachelor of Science. As you can see, the Bachelor of Science also has majors in each of our strength areas of the faculty, but within the Bachelor of Science, you also have the opportunity to customize your learning. In many of these areas, you can have a major, and you can also undertake a sub-major in another area. It's also easy to move between the majors within the Bachelor of Science. So really thinking about what it is that you want or if you're not sure what you want, might guide you in whether you're considering one of our name degrees or the Bachelor of Science. So now I'm going to hand over to my colleague again, Associate Professor Cathy Gorrie and she'll share with you the opportunities to learn in the area of medical science.

Cathy Gorrie: [00:07:15] If you're interested in the human body, diseases of the human body and how to identify or treat them, then these are the types of courses that you might be most interested in. So there's a number of different ones and they have slightly different specialisations which are all outlined in the handbook. Or if you're interested in innovative solutions to environmental or medical issues, you might want to start a company to develop a research idea to address some of these issues, then you might be interested in molecular biotechnology. You can do this as the name degree, the Bachelor of Molecular Biotechnology, and major in either environmental or medical biotechnology, or a more flexible option in the Bachelor of Science, majoring in biotechnology.

Megan Murray: [00:08:03] We have a suite of programs tailored for environmental science and marine biology, as you can see here. Our Environmental Biology Bachelor's degree focuses on a mix of terrestrial and freshwater ecology and biodiversity, with strong foundations in the essentials of environmental sustainability, conservation and protection. Our Marine Biology and Climate Change program is strongly themed around ocean processes and biodiversity, with good opportunities to enhance your experience on the impacts and mitigation strategies of climate change. We also have a flexible major within the Bachelor of Science where you can pick and mix and tailor your studies around the elements of environment and marine knowledge that you may wish to experience. Lots of different careers for different programs, as you can see here, and feel free to talk to your program directors for more information on this.

Scott Chadwick: [00:08:52] The Bachelor of Forensic Science is actually the first forensic science course in Australia and that has made us a world leader in forensic science. And we also have the UTS Centre for Forensic Science, which makes studying here at UTS in Forensic Science an excellent opportunity for any student wishing to move into this particular field. The course that we have on offer does have options of four different majors in biology, chemistry, crime scene investigation and digital forensic science. So if you have an interest in forensics, you can also choose to specialise in one of the other majors that we have there. And there are a whole range of career opportunities for students in forensic science outside of the traditional policing programs. Mathematical sciences is another exciting course that we offer here, and as we move through our lives, a lot more of our lives are generating a lot of data, and we need people who understand and have the ability to interpret that data for meaningful information. So in the Bachelor of Mathematical Sciences, we have the pure and applied mathematics, but also the statistics and data science. So if people are really interested in a career in mathematics and the broad applications that that can have in a whole range of different fields, that's an excellent opportunity. Or if you want to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and have the opportunity to experience other fields of science, I'd recommend the Bachelor of Science majoring in Mathematics. Chemistry is another exciting major that we have in the Bachelor of Science here at UTS, and chemistry is all around us, and students who would take this course are the students that are interested in understanding more about the world around them. And you have the opportunity to make chemicals and test them and try to analyze what you've made in really hands-on, practice-oriented laboratories that we have here. Our physics courses are also incredibly industry aligned with what our graduates are looking for. In this space, we actually have two courses, we have the new Bachelor of Advanced Science majoring in Quantum Technologies, which is a really big growth area across a whole range of industries, and then we also have the Bachelor of Science in Physics, and what we get our students to do here is, again, get that hands-on experience in the laboratory using some very cutting edge instrumentation.

Willa Houston: [00:11:31] Also, a great opportunity is combined degrees. Many of our programs here at UTS Science are offered in the form of a combined degree. So that means that you can graduate with two degrees, and this includes in business, law, international studies, and the Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation, and many more. So you might want to look at the combined degree opportunities as well. You should be aware that UTS has an early entry program. You can use your Year 11 results to apply now and you can have an offer even before you finish your HSC exams. So please consider applying to us through the UTS Early Entry Program.